Dune: Awakening wasn't originally an MMO-survival game hybrid, but the genre blend came together because the developers at Funcom thought the series was "perfect" for both.
Speaking to Gamesradar+ at Gamescom, Funcom CCO and Dune: Awakening creative director Joel Bylos explained that the "original idea was a survival game with a good end game" since the team was well acquainted with the genre via Conan Exiles. "We know how to make them, and we can funnel people through the survival experience into a larger, political sort of survival experience" - the endgame hunt for spice across Arrakis - "like you'd expect in Dune."
